A day at the races with NASCAR driver Justin Allgaier

NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier needs drive and stamina to keep up with his schedule -- and that's before he gets on the racetrack.

Marcia Martinez

NASCAR Nationwide Series star Justin Allgaier’s racing career can be traced to a phone call that resembled a game of red light/green light.

When the 24-year-old driver was about 5 years old, his father, Mike Allgaier, owner of the Hoosier Midwest Tire distributorship in Springfield, Ill., was on the road in Michigan. Mike’s business is supplying race tires to the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA).

One day, his wife, Dorothy Allgaier, called. She informed him the couple’s only child needed to talk with him immediately.

She put Justin on the line. The conversation went something like this.

“Dad, do you know what a quarter-midget is?” says Justin, according to Mike. “Dad, we’ve got to get a quarter-midget. Dad, it’s the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. Dad, can we get a quarter-midget?”

Mike, who raced cars for a short while in the early 1970s, replied, “No.”

Red light.

But Justin continued. “Oh, Dad. You don’t understand. I got to sit in Joey Moughan’s car (a third-generation driver from Springfield a couple of years older than Allgaier) and it was so cool. I can go out on Wednesday nights and practice. It will be great.”
Mike again said “no.”

Red light.

Justin’s response was, “But Mom said … ,” according to Dorothy.

Mike interjected and told Justin to put Dorothy on the phone.

“I really wanted him and his dad to have a good relationship, and I thought if I don’t get him into something we were accustomed to, he will never have the relationship with his dad that he needed,” Dorothy recalls.

“I said, ‘Mike. We can just putzy around.’”

Green light.

Before his wife could finish, Mike interrupted her and said, “If we do it, we’re going to do it right, or we’re not going to do it at all.”

Once the 5-foot-6, 145-pound driver’s feet touch the floor of his motor coach, which Mike pilots throughout the United States, Allgaier hits the ground running. Over the next 16 hours, he doesn’t have more than two minutes to himself.

Allgaier on this night races his black and red No. 12 Verizon Dodge Charger in the Nationwide Series Dollar General 300. The Nationwide Series is just one step below NASCAR’s top level, the Sprint Cup Series.

Allgaier guides the Dodge around the Chicagoland track during two morning practice sessions.

Then, organized chaos ensues.

Over the next three hours, Allgaier fulfills at least 12 commitments. Because he’s back in his home state, Allgaier’s schedule is more hectic than usual. An unexpected, random drug test is thrown into the mix. His Penske Racing public-relations representative shuttles him on a golf cart all over the grounds.

There are multiple autograph-signing sessions. At one appearance, the woman who does his laundry when he’s in town shows up and gets his autograph. A pair of grade-school boys ride up on their dirt bikes, noting how young the baby-faced Allgaier looks. He autographs their bikes.

During the stretch, Allgaier conducts multiple interviews (enough to lose count). He doesn’t appear to eat much — just a few watermelon chunks, a handful of grapes, a frozen treat and a sandwich.

The rock band 12 Stones visits Allgaier’s No. 12 hauler. The group’s lead singer, Paul McCoy, later sings the national anthem.

Allgaier wraps up his meeting with the band. It’s time to qualify for tonight’s race. It is around 3 p.m.

“He started off just mediocre, really,” Mike said. “About the third race, it was like the light came on. When he got it figured out, he was competitive about wherever he went.”

“Little Gator,” Justin’s nickname, was a five-time quarter-midget champion by age 12. He has more than 100 quarter-midget victories under his belt.

While piling up wins, Allgaier sharpened his interviewing skills — just in case. He was 12 when he convinced his father to drive 31/2 hours to Indianapolis on school nights, so he could participate in a public-speaking class at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

For three years, Mike Allgaier picked up his son from school and shuttled him 200 miles one way, regardless of weather.

“It would be the dead of winter and storms so bad you couldn’t believe it,” Dorothy said.

Justin’s big break came in 2008, when he drove for Allgaier Motorsports and won the ARCA championship.

“When we won the championship and met the key people (particularly with Penske Racing) that we did, it was a culmination of a lot of hard work and effort,” he said.

Title contender

In 2008, Allgaier made his Nationwide debut and drove in four races. He was crowned Nationwide Rookie of the Year the following season.

“It went down to the end, and I was nervous we weren’t going to win it,” Allgaier said.

Allgaier is currently in contention for the 2010 Nationwide Series championship. Sprint Cup drivers such as Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick have scored Nationwide victories this year, but Allgaier is the sole Nationwide-only driver with a victory this season.

On March 20, 2010, Allgaier reached Victory Lane by winning the Scotts Turf Builder 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. It was his first NASCAR series victory.

“I remember very few people’s birthdays, I remember my (wedding anniversary) and I remember March 20, 2010,” he said. “That first one means a lot. It’s something you’ll never forget.

“That’s one of those days for me that was a really cool experience. Of all the places you can win at and all the ways you can win, I don’t know if there are words to describe how cool that was.”

Harvick, the Sprint Cup points leader, proclaimed Allgaier the top talent in the Nationwide Series a week ago.

“(Allgaier) is really the only one that’s really showing that he (can) win races,” Harvick said. “I just like that he is competitive.”

It’s because of this success that Allgaier is constantly bombarded with “The Question.”

The press and racing fans are clamoring to know when he will reach the pinnacle of NASCAR and move up to the Sprint Cup Series.

“I feel like another season at least of Nationwide would not be a bad thing, but I would hope at this point next year I’m at least practicing or even attempting to do some races on the Cup side — and if not, at least getting set up to run for a full season in 2012,” Allgaier said.

“I feel like I’m ready to make that jump. I’m eager to make that jump.”

Allgaier tested a Sprint Cup car in March at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, where NASCAR races twice a year.

“It’s just a matter of time,” said Chad Walter, Allgaier’s crew chief. “How much time? I really don’t know. When he gets to the Cup level he is capable of raising the bar, taking that challenge and running with it. Justin is well on his way to having a long career in Sunday racing.”

It appears Allgaier is keeping team owner Roger Penske happy.

“The experience that he has gained in the Nationwide Series has been so valuable for his development and we have seen his results continue to improve,” Penske said. “He had a very strong rookie season in 2009 and he has been able to take it to the next level this year, winning at Bristol, running consistently at the front of the field each week and fighting for the series championship. We believe Justin has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Keeping the faith

Two hours or so before the race at Chicagoland gets underway, Allgaier and his crew chief join 42 other drivers and their crew chiefs for a mandatory meeting. Pre-race information is delivered and rules are reviewed. The meeting concludes, and drivers and chiefs quickly clear out.

However, Allgaier and Walter remain in the front row for the weekly chapel service. Allgaier, who attended Riverton Christian Church growing up and raced a midget car with the message “Follow Jesus Not Me” on it, is a regular.

This night, he is one of three drivers who attend the 30-minute service. Those present sing hymns. They also attempt to focus on the sermon and drown out the Sprint Cup qualifying session taking place at the same time.

Standing with the upper portion of his racing suit tied around his waist, Allgaier belts out the closing hymn, “How Great is Our God,” by heart.

“I’ve been extremely blessed,” Allgaier said. “Hopefully, all of this is God’s plan and this is what he wants me to do. I feel like the way things have happened, there has to be intervention for things to happen the way that they did.”

He’s paying it forward. Allgaier is raising money for a Mexican orphanage being built by a chaplain who is retiring from the Christian organization that ministers to the drivers.

The artist and businessman

If Allgaier was to ever pursue a second career, graphic art would be a perfect fit.
He has experience. At age 12, Allgaier started Gator Graffix. He designed and produced decals for his race cars and for other drivers.

“If you take a look back at my old race cars there’s not two that ever really looked the same,” he said. “They were always different colors and different designs. I have to admit my first few cars I’m not real proud of. I miss not having that graphics machine just sitting there where I can go over, mess around and design something."

He creates art in other ways now. Over the winter, he drew and designed his own helmet. He has a budding interest in photography and has has shot photos at motorsports events.

Walking around the garages with a camera led to ribbing from some drivers and crew members.

“I feel like racing and art have a lot in common just in the way you put your heart and soul into something,” said Allgaier, who studied at Lincoln Land Community College for 1 1/2 semesters.

Homecoming week

Three days after racing in Joliet, Allgaier is home in central Illinois, hanging out in the parking lot of his father’s tire and race shops on Springfield’s north side.

The Penske Racing souvenir trailer stocked full of Allgaier merchandise is visible from Illinois Route 54, which runs past the property.

Passersby honk their horns. One man pulls off the highway, gets out of his vehicle and chats with Allgaier.

Despite being home, Allgaier’s schedule remains hectic. On Monday and Tuesday, he gives many interviews. He shoots a public service announcement for the Illinois Department of Transportation Buckle Up campaign in Springfield and makes an appearance at a Verizon store.

Nationwide’s four-race swing through the Midwest provides Allgaier and his wife, Ashley Allgaier, the chance to spend a few days in their hometowns with family and friends before heading to the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Saturday at Justin’s home track, Gateway International Raceway in Madison — just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. (See below for details on television coverage.)

The former Ashley Hanson, a Buffalo Tri-City High School graduate, and Allgaier began dating in 2002 after attending a Springfield Junior Blues hockey game with friends. The couple, who live in Mooresville, N.C., wed in 2006.

Ashley has organized an army of Allgaier fans for this weekend’s race. She sold and sent out 1,250 tickets to the race. (She admits she had help — Justin sorted tickets.)

Ashley estimates Riverton residents purchased at least 400 tickets, with another 400 going to individuals from the Springfield area.

“There are people from all over ... Riverton, Texas, Virginia and Minnesota,” Ashley said. “We have five sections.”

Justin will lead his fans and others in attendance when he gives the command, “Drivers, start your engine” to kick off the race at Gateway.

Over and out

Back at Joliet, driver introductions are over, and pickup trucks have paraded Allgaier and his counterparts around the 11/2-mile track. Shortly before 7 p.m., before settling into the driver’s seat, he poses for a photograph on pit road with Chicago Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije, who later watches the race from the top of Allgaier’s pit box.

The green flag drops.

Allgaier starts what should be a 200-lap, 300-mile journey from the No. 11 position. He runs in the top 10. He moves to the front of the pack twice and leads four laps.

The checkered flag signaling the end of the race looms. He’s racing hard with two drivers on the final laps. On lap 198, Allgaier is involved in a late-race skirmish.
Allgaier’s car makes contact with Trevor Bayne’s car. Bayne’s car is damaged, but Allgaier’s doesn’t suffer any major damage, allowing him to complete the race.

He finishes 10th.

As soon as he exits his car, Allgaier approaches a member of Bayne’s crew. Judging by his body language, he’s explaining what happened. After he leaves pit road, he stops by Bayne’s hauler and talks to the driver.

Then, it’s back to the No. 12 hauler, where his crew is packing up the semi so it can head back immediately to the race shop in Mooresville.

Allgaier changes out of his race suit and chats with reporters and friends before heading back to his motor coach, which is parked nearby. It’s nearly 11 p.m.
It’s all in a day’s work.

2010 by the numbers:

4 — Justin Allgaier’s current rank in the NASCAR Nationwide series

3 — Number of drivers ahead of Allgaier who also compete in NASCAR’s top level, the Sprint Cup Series.

10 — Top 10 finishes out of 18 races so far, including one victory
$553,254 — winnings to date ($2 million career)